1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless devices and, more particularly, to pairing wireless devices for authorized data exchange.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, headphones or earphones are connected to an audio output device, such as a mobile phone, through a wired connection. The wired connection can, however, in many cases be cumbersome or annoying to the user. Hence, in recent times, wireless headsets or earphones have been developed. Typically, these wireless devices utilize Bluetooth technology in order to wirelessly transmit data between the headset or earphone and the mobile phone. As a result, there is no need for a wired connection between the headset or earphones and the media player.
Unfortunately, however, before the wireless headset or earphone can operate in a wireless manner with a mobile phone, the wireless headset or earphone must be paired to operate with the mobile phone. Pairing is a process that is used to associate a headset or earphone with a particular mobile phone, and vice versa. The pairing provides for secure data transfer between the devices, typically through use of encryption. Thus, the pairing helps ensure that the data being transferred is not only secured but also transferred to the appropriate recipient device. Pairing, however, requires that a pin code be entered in order to pair a mobile phone with a headset or earphone. Entering of a pin code is sometimes problematic for a user. For example, often mobile audio devices are small handheld devices and the entering of a pin code can be cumbersome given the small scale of mobile audio devices (e.g., mobile phones, portable music players, etc.). The mobile audio devices may also not offer a user interface that supports ease of entry of a pin code. Still further, users often do not know the appropriate pin code to be utilized.
Moreover, given that a mobile audio device can wirelessly pair with headsets or earphones associated with a large range of different manufacturers, a mobile audio device manufacturer has no control over the type of headset or earphones that a user might desire to pair with their mobile audio device. In limited cases, such as when the manufacturer of the mobile audio device is the same as the manufacturer of the headset or earphones, it is possible that a user need not enter a pin code because a proprietary exchange of information can facilitate pairing.
Thus, there is a need for improved techniques to facilitate pairing of wireless headsets or earphones with mobile audio devices.